Our Travels to Scenic France and Stories of Audacious Women

We are humbled with the response to our first book in a series, Flavour with Benefits: France. Thank you to those who have read the book and to those who will in the future! Your reviews and comments mean the world to us and inspire us. In our book, we take a circuitous trip through scenic France and experience food and drink in the world's number one travel destination. 

One of the inspirations for our book were all the audacious women that we learned about in our research, such as Madame Clicquot among other "Widows of Champagne" who built an industry but could not vote, whose story is in chapter one. We could not have written these details without the insightful book by Tilar J Mazzeo, The Widow Clicquot.

In the chapter, Courage, Sacrifice and Love, we share stories of my grandmother, Stella who survived the Great Depression, gave critical assistance to neighbours and friends, faced and overcame obstacles, many of which we can relate to today. Her cornbread, Dad and Stella's Cornbread is included with a few tweaks. The recipe includes fresh peaches and is one of my favourite food pictures. Stella and Dad loved peaches. 

In Lyon - The Capital of French Cuisine, there is the story of La Mere Brazier, Eugenie Brazier, who was the first woman to secure six Michelin stars at her two restaurants. Her book The  Mother of Modern French Cooking  is stunning in its simplicity and her sage advice, "If you want to become good at cooking, do it a lot". Truer words were never spoken. She trained some of the first celebrity chefs, such as Paul Bocuse. Her impact and echo carry on.

And of course no book on French cuisine is complete without some tribute recipes to Julia Child whose book, My Life in France was entertaining and informative and added insights about her struggles. Her first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking took a decade to complete and is a premiere documentation of French cooking for the home cook. 

I vividly remember Les Alpilles, Les Baux featured in associated picture. In the chapter, Meandering through Provence, we hiked, saw wild horses, experienced the yellow light that Vincent Van Gogh painted and in his  famous The Starry Night painting. There is a pie recipe that is included that salutes this famous painting.

We were also lucky enough to go to a Michelin starred restaurant, La Chassagnette  where the produce is grown onsite and atmosphere will relax anyone because you eat near the gardens. A few two page spreads of this luxurious venue are included.

And with our salute to France, we are reminded that now more than ever, all of us want to travel freely again. To go and explore places we have never been or to revisit some of our favourite places. We welcome you to follow the map from Paris to Marseille in Flavour with Benefits: France in your travels and to enjoy the stories of these audacious women. We celebrate all women who are all extraordinary in their own ways.
Collesano Publishing, wholly owned by Connally Best Partners Corp. #1 Bestseller in Canada in French Cooking.